Roaming User Profiles

By Author: Jasmine
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To support users who work at multiple computers, you can set up mcitp 2008 roaming user profiles. A roaming user profile is based at the server and is downloaded to the local computer every time a user logs on. In contrast to a local user profile, which resides on only one client computer, a roaming user profile is available at any workstation or server computer on the network. Changes made to a user's roaming user profile are updated locally and on the server when the user logs off. This profile is created by a system administrator and is stored in a shared folder on a server.
The first time that a user logs on at a computer, Windows Server 2003 copies all documents to the local computer. Thereafter, when the user logs on to the computer, Windows Server 2003 compares the locally stored user profile files and the roaming user profile files. It copies only the files that have changed since the last time the user logged on at the computer, which makes the logon process shorter.
Mandatory User Profiles
To specify a profile for individuals or an entire group of users, you can ...
... set up mandatory user profiles. A mandatory user profile is a read-only roaming profile, based at the server and downloaded to the local computer every time a user logs on. It is available at any workstation or server computer on the network. Users can modify the desktop settings of the computer while they are logged on, but none of these changes are saved when they log off. The next time that the user logs on, the profile is the same as the last time that he or she logged on. Only system administrators can make changes to mandatory user profiles. The mandatory profile settings are downloaded to the local mcitp enterprise administrator computer each time the user logs on. You can assign one mandatory profile to multiple users who require the same desktop settings. If you need to change the desktop environment for this set of users, you can do so by changing only one profile.
Preferably, profiles should be managed by using Group Policy. Although mandatory user profiles are permitted, they are more likely to create administration problems. For information about Group Policy, see Chapter 11, "Administering Group Policy."
Local User Profiles
A local user profile is based at the local computer and is available at only the local com?puter. When a user logs on to the client computer running Windows Server 2003, he or she always receives his or her individual desktop settings and connections, regardless of how many users share the same client computer. Windows Server 2003 automatically creates a local user profile the first time that a user logs on to a workstation or server computer. The local user profile is stored in the C:\Documents and SettingsX User_logon_name folder on the computer, where C is the name of your system drive and User_logon_name is the name the user types when logging on to the system.
A user changes his or her local user profile by changing desktop settings. For example, a user might make a new network connection or add a file to My Documents. Then, when a user logs off, Windows Server 2003 incorporates the changes into the user profile stored on the computer. The next time the user logs on to the local a certification exam computer, the new network connection and the file are present.